Player finds lost wedding ring at rugby match

Published on Monday 5 July 2010 09:40

LOSING a wedding ring in the Meadows is about as close to the needle-in-a-haystack scenario as any newly married couple could get.

So when Minpreet Jongkees accidentally threw her sparkler to the ground during a romantic snowball fight last Christmas Day, she accepted – after an epic two-day search with metal detector enthusiasts – that she'd never see the gem again.

Fast-forward six months and a rugby tackle has provided the couple with a happy ending.

Restaurant worker Matthew Gilgore, from Newington, was thrown to the ground as he played in the Meadows, when he spotted something glittering in the mud.

After appealing for the owner on Gumtree, the unique and expensive ring was then spotted by the metal detector enthusiast who had tried to find the piece of jewellery when it was originally lost.

Recalling the against-all-odds find, Sandy Lyon, from Loanhead, said: "It's a crazy tale. I had originally spent two days trying to find the ring, but we didn't have any luck. The Meadows is just so big.

"Then last week a girl from Leith asked me if I could try to help her find her white gold wedding band.

"I couldn't find it, but by chance she mentioned that a ring that was similar to hers had been advertised in the lost-and-found section of Gumtree.

"I thought, 'wait a second, that sounds familiar'. I clicked on it and there it was.

"Obviously Minpreet and her husband Arjan were delighted. She was over the moon. But they are in Holland now, so they couldn't pick it up."

After reporting to Matthew that he knew the true owners of the ring, Sandy was asked to provide details of the inscription on the white gold band to verify that he was being truthful.

Sandy said: "The couple told me Arjan had put the message 'Two lives, one path' in it. As soon as I said the code word, he said I could pick it up whenever I wanted. I told Minpreet I'd put it in the post as soon as possible, but she said, 'No! Don't risk it!' I've given it to a friend until they can pick it up.

"I have a lot of respect for Matthew. He didn't ask for any reward and it's not the first time he's done something like this. He told me that in the past he's found a wallet full of cash, which he advertised in the same way. He's obviously a very decent guy."

Mrs Jongkees, 26, said: "When I got the e-mail to say they'd found a ring similar to mine I didn't want to get my hopes up at first, but then it became clear they'd got it. It was unreal and I couldn't believe that so many coincidences had brought it back to me.

"I hadn't replaced the ring after losing it. I decided last week that there was no point in getting another one because no ring could compare to it.

"We're hoping to come back to Edinburgh in August for the Festival, so I'll probably pick it up then."